According to Israel's 2025 National Transplant Center report, 313 kidney transplants from living donors were performed. This highlights one of Israel's most distinctive transplant achievements: its emphasis on living kidney donation, particularly from altruistic (non-directed) donors — people who donate to someone they do not know.

At the forefront of kidney transplantation in Israel is Dr. Abed Khalaileh, director of solid organ transplantation at Hadassah hospitals, and his team.

In 2022, they set an Israeli record by performing the highest number of organ transplants ever completed in such a short period of time. In the course of just two weeks, 12 men and women ages 38 and older with end-stage kidney or liver disease received transplants at Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem — and a new chance at life.

In this special episode of Hadassah On Call, filmed while Dr. Khalaileh visited our New York studio, he spoke with producer Adeola Saul about transplantation, organ donation and what makes Hadassah so unique and lifechanging.

Dr. Khalaileh shares how he transitioned from engineering to medicine and chose transplantation for its complexity and lifesaving impact, describing Hadassah as "Noah's Ark" for bringing together people of diverse religions and ethnicities with a shared mission of patient care and research. He reflects on the emotional responsibility of operating on living donors and encourages transplant recipients to honor their donors and support the families of deceased donors.

He also discusses Hadassah's teamwork during times of crisis and thanks supporters in the United States for helping make advances such as robotic surgical systems possible. Finally, Dr. Khalaileh offers a glimpse into his groundbreaking research using liquid biopsy and cell-free DNA to detect organ rejection through a simple blood test.

Further Learning:

• The Kidney Donation That Spanned Continents and Saved Lives
• Jewish Family and Christian Arab Patient United at Hadassah
• The Altruism of Donating an Organ During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Double Donation of Kidney and Blood Vessels Saves Woman's Life at Hadassah
• The Hadassah Way: Palestinian & Israeli Doctors Saving Lives

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Hadassah On Call: New Frontiers in Medicine is a production of Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organization of America. Hadassah enhances the health of people around the world through medical education, care and research innovations at the Hadassah Medical Organization. For more information on the latest advances in medicine, please head over to hadassah.org.

This episode includes promotion for Hadassah Lifechanging

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